That is exactly how I played the game - with the same playtime and everything! I recommend investing in the DLC. Then again, I bought the DLC just because I loved the game so much and wanted to support the developers. The upcoming storyline is just a plus.

Btw, I decided to do a NG+ (after dumping all my money into Sheba) and finish all the extra content from there. 

lvl1 vs lvl117

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUPZN8b1pvA&feature=youtu.be

Whats the level cap in this game?

99 for the party.

I just beat XC2 the other day, and while I loved the game and loved the lore surrounding Alrest, the characters don't feel as well developed as those from the first game...
I also feel like Nintendo missed a fantastic opportunity for some crossover DLC in the form of blades from other popular Nintendo series...
Imagine Finas a blade, with her weapon being the Master Sword...
I feel like Type: Null would have made a really cool blade...
Marth with Falchion...
Captain Falcon or Little Mac with knuckle claws...
Or even Shulk with the Monado...

We're getting new Rare Blades so it could still happen.

I could easily see Fi being one.

I actually feel the opposite. If you actually step back and look at the cast of 1, they're development isn't anything to write home about.  Their appeal is much more in their endearing personality and chemistry.  Xenoblade 2's cast imo feels more human and fleshed out with greater relevance for each cast member throughout rather than any of the characters feeling superfluous by the end.  Both casts I find equally enjoyable, but for different reasons.

Also, don't count on crossover stuff. I think Nintendo wants Xenoblade to stand on its own two feet and avoid any bleedover from otjer IPs.

Well. It's official. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is in my top 10 favourite games of all time, as well as cementing the series as my favourite RPG series ever (despite not having even played the first one, but X was amazing as well).

I am not even done with it yet, I've put in 260 hours into it. I love virtually everything about the game: music, gameplay, art style, story, characters, even the voice acting is top notch (the only one I don't like is Mythra- sounds too forced)... I think Zeke is awesome and I was actually surprised by the amount of depth there was to each character as you progressed through it.

I would totally watch an anime based on this game.
They could definitely do a Xenoblade Warriors :P

XC2 is a lot more dialogue heavy than the first; so, it makes sense. Side characters and villains were WAAAAY better developed in XC2.

The plots were two different styles - XC1 was more about following long term goals, and getting past obstacles to get there. XC2 had a lot more activity going on, there was a central goal of “Ger to Elysium,” but the plot was far more driven by the antagonists hunting down the protagonists and the various political objectives of the various factions of the world.

The side quests are also significantly better developed than XC1, a lot of the time puts you into interesting side-stories with character development instead of fetch quest + flavour text 98% of the time like XC1.